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French Use Space Tech To Find Parking Spots
itwbennett writes "Using technology developed by French space agency CNES (Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales) to explore the planet Venus, drivers in the city of Toulouse are discovering something much more down-to-earth: vacant parking spots. The system is based on 3,000 sensors buried just under the pavement that detect changes in the electromagnetic environment around them and communicate the results via coaxial cable to a server, which makes the information available in real time to drivers' smartphones."
I wonder whether Toulouse has laws against using your smartphone while driving -- this could be a nice income source for the municipality as well, staking out the parking spots with hidden cameras!
So the plan is to explore Venus by burying sensors around the planet and detecting when something parks on top of them?
At least the pioneers will be able to locate a parking spot quickly!
You made a joke about the French being cowards and their women having too much hair! Hahahahahaha! That is both clever and original sir, i salute you! The only thing I can't understand is why you posted anonymously and denied yourself credit for such hilarity!
We have a similar system in San Francisco:
http://sfpark.org/how-it-works/
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
They have had something like this at BWI for years. Even better - you don't have to look at your phone while driving. There are red and green lights marking open spots and the number of free spaces listed at the head of each row.
Similarly, the parking structure at the Grove in LA lists the number of free spaces per floor.
Step on it Pierre, no time Toulouse!
"The 3,000 sensors, buried about nine inches apart, are able to pinpoint open parking spots within 980 feet"
Something doesn't seem right about that.
If he wanted credit, he'd post with his username and call Americans fat and stupid. Modded +5 in no time.
If he wanted credit, he'd post with his username and call Americans fat and stupid. Modded +5 in no time.
I may be fat and stupid, but you
http://xkcd.com/562/
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Yeah, this is just an excuse for the government to have another electronic “eye” watching you all the frigging time.
The goal isn’t to eliminate wrongdoers, the goal is to monetize them more efficiently. If wrongdoers were eliminated, they wouldn’t make any money off parking tickets. It’s just the same argument as the red-light cameras, which my city has had for a while and is currently considering moving them to new intersections because hardly anyone runs the cameras any more. Mission accomplished – wait, these aren’t making any more money... problem? Only if your goal was to make money.
Of course if they move them, I’m sure the previously-monitored intersections will pretty quickly return to exactly as they were before the cameras were installed. If the goal is to cut down on T-bone accidents caused by red-light runners at intersections that are identified as particularly bad for this sort of thing, the cameras need to stay at those intersections, yeah? Moving the cameras to less-bad intersections simply to generate more revenue could actually result in people getting killed. Priorities? You bet.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.